Combined sound-reproducing and stereopticon apparatus.



No. 745,218. ,PATENTED NOT- 24, 1903.

G. F. MENSING.

COMBINED SOUND RBPRODUGING AN D STBREOPTIGON APPARATUS.

APPLICATION; n'Lsn APR. 25. 1903.

N0 MODEL SHEETS-SHEET 1.

\kmwsbs I lvwmor: I CJQXLTUV) sing No. 745,218. I .PATENTED NOV. 24,1903.

COMBINED SOUND REPRODUCING AND STEREOPTIUON APPARATUS. nrmonron rum)11.25. 1903.

NO MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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UITED STATES Patented November 24, 1903.

PATENT COMBINED SOUND-REPRODUCING AND STEREOPTICON APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 745,218, datedNovember 24, 1903.

Application filed April 25, 1903. Serial No. 154,216. (No model.)

To atZZ whmn it ntcty concern:

' zen of the United States, residing at Kansas City, in the county ofJackson and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in a Combined Sound-Reproducing and Stereopticon Apparatus,of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to combined soundreproducing and stereopticonapparatus, and has for its object to produce apparatus of the characterenumerated whereby the reproduction of words descriptive or suggestiveshall be synchronously attended by the display of the scene to whichsuch words relate.

A further object is to produce such apparatus which can be adjusted toproject a scene on the screen to accommodate a particular wordarrangement of any song, speech, lecture, or other address.

A still further object is to produce such apparatus so combined andarranged that it may be contained within a small cabinet for use inplaces of amusement.

To these ends the invention consists in certain novel and peculiarfeatures of construction and organization, as hereinafter described andclaimed, and in order that it may be fully understood reference is to behad to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents a sideelevation of a cabinet with its near wall removed to expose themechanism. Fig. 2 is an enlarged horizontal section taken above thepartition of the cabinet. Fig. 3 is a section on the line 111 III ofFig. 1.

,1; In the said drawings, 1 designates a cabinet of any suitable orpreferred type and having its front and upper ends connected by aportion 2, sloping rearwardly and upwardly at an angle of aboutforty-five degrees, and the cabinet is provided with ahorizontalpartition 3, impervious to light. In the chamber above the partition andsupported thereon or in any other suitable manner is an ordinaryphonograph adapted to be equipped with the usual appurtenances wherebyit may be set in operation by dropping a coin into the machine, thecoin-chute and connections being omitted because of well-knownconstruction. The phonograph is provided with the usual traveling arm 5and is belted, as at 6, to the usual governor 7 of an electric motor,(not shown,) said motor being of the type in common use in coin-operatedphonographs. The belt 6 is also utilized to drive a wheel 8, having asmall pulley 9 fora purpose which hereinafter appears.

10 is a contact-arm secured to the traveling arm 5 of the phonograph andadapted while the sounds are being reproduced to successively engagecontacts 11, adjustably secured by set-screws 12 on a bar 13, suitablysupported, a rod 14 being disposed below contacts 11 to prevent theirdropping sufficiently low to interfere with the proper travel of arm 10.A contact-plate 15 is mounted on bar 13 and is electrically connected byconductor 16 to one of the binding-posts, 17, of said motor,

the other binding-post, 18, being connected by conductor 19 to a magnet20, arranged in the chamber below partition 3, said magnet being alsoconnected by conductor 21 to arm 10 in order that the engagement of thelatter with one of the contacts 11 shall establish an electric circuitto energize the magnet, it being understood, of course, that a storagebattery (not shown) will be employed to operate the motor or else thelatter will be operated by an equivalent source of electric supply.

The usual spring-retracted armature 22 is pivoted on a bracket 23,mounted on one pole of the magnet. A lever 24 substantially parallelwith the armature is limited as to gravitative movement by stop-pin 25and pivotally carries a bevel-end catch 26, held normally by spring 27and post 28 of the lever with its bevel end against the other pole ofthe magnet, said catch having a notch 29.normally engaged by thearmature, the arrangement being such that the energization of the magnet attracts the armature and causes the latter, through the medium'ofthe catch, to lift or trip the lever, and at the same time theengagement of the bevel end of the catch with the magnet-pole disengagesthe former from the armature to permit the lever to drop down to itsoriginal position. engagement of arm 10 with contact 11 is broken andthe magnet is deenergized, the denergization permitting the armature tobe instantly retracted and in such action to ride upon the'bevel end ofand force'the catch aside until again .opposite the recess, when him IAs this occurs the the catch is again drawn by spring 27 into engagementwith the armature.

30 is a horizontal shaft suitably secured in the lower chamber of thecabinet, and 31 a skeleton wheel journaled thereon and adapted to beequipped peripherally with the usual stereopticon-slides and providedwith a corresponding number of equidistant peripheral pins 32 forsuccessive engagement with the upper end of lever 24 when in its normalor depressed position.

33 is a pulley journaled on shaft 30, and 34 a coil-spring secured atits inner end to the hub of said wheel and at its outer end frictionallyto the hub of wheel 31 and tending to rotate the latter in the directionindicated by the arrow, Fig. 1. The pulley rotates continuously butslowly in the same direction through the medium of a belt 35, connectedat its opposite end to small pulley 9, hereinbefore mentioned, said beltextending up through the partition and around a guidepulley 36,journaled in the free end of a bar 37, hinged as at 38 to the cabinetand pressed upwardly with a yielding pressure by spring 39, so as tohold the belt under proper tension at all times.

40 is a bracket secured within the cabinet and carrying acondensing-lens 41,0ver which the slides successively pass, being heldinactive thereover for the required period by means of the lever 24 andstop-pins 32, as will be readily understood.

Below the condensing-lens a lamp 42 is secured, and in line with thesame and the center of said lens is the usual objective lens 43, thesame extending up through the partition and supported preferably by abracket 44.

In alinement with the lamp lens 41, and lens 43 a mirror 45 is securedto the inner side of the cabinet portion 2 by means of cleats 46 orotherwise and adapted to project the scene of the slide at that momentabove the condensing-lens upon the screen 47, secured to the back wallof the cabinet and opposite the usual sight-piece or hood 48 at thefront side of the cabinet. The pictures are viewed by looking throughhood 48, one only of which appears, and the sound is heard byintroducing the tips of the phonograph-tubes 49 into the ears, saidtubes extending through the cabinet in the customary manner and normallyresting on the hooks 50, projecting from the front of the cabinet.

In practice it is preferred that the apparatus shall be provided with acoin-chute (not shown) and accessories in order that the introduction ofa coin shall start the apparatus in operation. As the phonographreproduces sound heard by the operator through the medium of tubes 49,as explained, its contact arm 10 successively engages contacts 11 andwith each engagement and disengagement makes and breaks a circuitthrough the magnet, which through the control it exercises over lever 24periodically arrests and holds the slide-carrier 31, said carrier beingactuated, as will be readily understood, by the re laxation of thecoil-spring 34, said spring being automatically retensioned while thecarrier is at rest through the medium of the constantly but slowlyoperating belt-wheel 33, as will be readily understood.

As the wheel slide-carrier is held stationary for varying periods oftime, this being dependent on the distance betweencontacts l1, and thebelt-wheel rotates continuously at a uniform speed, it is obvious thatthe c0ilspring would be wound tighter at times than at others ifprovision was not made to prevent such result-viz., to permit the springto slip or move independently of the wheelcarrierand to effect thisresult in the most practical manner I provide the outer end of thespring, with an enlargement or head 34, which wedges lightly between theproximate spring convolution and the wall of the cup formed on the hubof wheel 31, the friction between the spring-head and cup beingsufficient to rotate the said wheel in the direction indicated by thearrow, Fig. 1, and yet slip sufficiently when said wheel is stationaryto prevent the spring being wound sufficiently tight to stop the belt orreduce the speed thereof, either of which results would correspondinglyaffect the sound-reproducing machine. It will thus be seen that theslides are successively disposed between the lens and remain stationaryin such position for a period of time dependent upon the distancebetween contacts 11, and during such time is portrayed through theapparatusdescribed upon the screen. After the contact-arm has passed thelast contact 11, which is preferably the slide which announces the titleof the reproduction, the arm 5 is pivotally operated in the usual mannerto dispose the contact-arm below the plane of the contacts and is thenreturned toward its original position through means common in automaticphonographs without engagement with contacts 11, and therefore withoutaffecting the carrier.

From the above description, taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, it will be apparent that I have produced apparatus of thecharacter described which embodies the features of advantage enumeratedas desirable in the statement of invention and which is susceptible ofmodification with out departing from the principle and scope orsacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In an apparatus of the character described, a cabinet containing amirror, a screen, a sight-piece, an objective lens, a condensing-lens,and a light in operative relation with said lens; a slide-carrier todispose its slides between the lenses; means to hold the slide-carrierstationary; a sound-reproducing instrument; means actuated by thesound-reproducing instrument, for tripping *the slide-carrier-holdingmeans at intervals; and means to move the slide-carrier when saidholding means are tripped.

2. In an apparatus of the character described, a cabinet having a darkchamber containing a reflecting-mirror, a screen and a sight-piece, anobjective lens arranged to throw a picture upon said mirror,aslide-carrier, means tending to move the same, means to for arrestingand holding said carrier stationary after it travels the width of aslide, a series of contacts corresponding to the number of slides, amagnet in circuit therewith, a sound reproducing apparatus having a [5movable arm and ear-tubes, a contact-arm movable with said arm andadapted to successively engage said contacts When moving in onedirection and also in circuit with said magnet, and a catch movablysecuredto the wheel-oarrier-arresting means and engaging themagnet-armature when the carrier is at rest.

3. In an apparatus of the character described,a cabinet having a darkchamber containing a mirror, a screen, and a sight-piece, an objectivelens, a condensing-lens in line with the objective lens and mirror, amov- .ing slide-carrier between said lenses, a soundreproducinginstrument, and means whereby said sound-reproducing instrument shallperiodically arrest the movement of said carrier.

4. In an apparatus of the character described,a cabinet having a darkchamber containing a mirror, a screen, and a sight-piece, an objectivelens, a condensing-lens in' line with the objective lens and mirror, amoving slide-carrier between said lenses, a soundreproducing instrument,means to arrest the carrier at intervals, a magnet having its'armatureconnected to such means, contacts in circuit with said magnet, and acontact-arm moved by the sound-reproducing instrument to successivelyengage said contacts and thereby alternately energize and denergize themagnet and trip and release said carrierarresting means.

5. In an apparatus of the character described, a cabinet containing amirror, a

, screen, a sight-piece, an objective lens, a conment for releasing theslide-carrier, and then permitting the arrestingand holding means toagain arrest and hold the said carrier.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

CARL F. MENSING.

Witnesses: v

H. O. RODGERS, G. Y. THORPE.

